Anita Mui's Role In SHI MIAN MAI FU Will Remain Unfilled (MonkeyPeaches Exclusive)

December 31, 2003

Producer Zhang Weiping told Beijing Youth Daily, that director Zhang Yimou had decided to let Anita Mui's role remain unfilled and to alter the script to fill the plot hole. Zhang Weiping said the weight of the rest of the cast would also remain unchanged. Andy Lau will arrive on the Bamboo forest location of Youngchuan in a few days, to join Zhang Ziyi and Takeshi Kaneshiro. His scenes will be rush out in a proximately a week. On January 11, Andy Lau must return to Hong Kong for Anita Mui's funeral, which will also be attended by the film's another producer Bill Kong. On the same day, indoor shooting will restart in Beijing Film Studios.

Hong Kong Star Anita Mui Has Died at 40 (MonkeyPeaches Exclusive)

December 30, 2003

Hong Kong actress singer Anita Mui has passed away early this morning in Hong Kong.  Mui's career started to take off when she won a singing contest organized by Hong Kong's TVB in 1982. She has stared in near 50 movies during the following two decades, including A Better Tomorrow 3, The Heroic Trio, Drunken Master 2, My Father Is A Hero, Rumble In The Bronx and July Rhapsody (her last on-screen appearance). Her performance in Rouge earned her Best Actress Title of both Hong Kong Film Awards and Taiwan's Golden Horse Awards. In September this year, Anita Mui publicly announced that she had been diagnosed with cervical cancer. Since then she has given eight concerts and shown up at several charity events. Last month she traveled to Japan for an advertising shoot and her condition worsened after returning to Hong Kong. A few days ago, she has officially declined starring in director Zhang Yimou's Shi Mian Mai Fu. She fell into coma yesterday and passed away at 2:50 am (Hong Kong time) this morning after a lung failure caused by cervical cancer. Dozens of her friends from Hong Kong entertainment circle have shown up at the hospital for the farewell visit (click here).

Small Update On Zhang Yimou's SHI MIAN MAI FU (MonkeyPeaches Exclusive)

December 29, 2003

Ever since the shooting began in the bamboo forest, Zhang Ziyi has been running it as a one-girl show. Because the other three stars, Takeshi Kaneshiro, Andy Lau and Anita Mui, are in absence, their roles have been filled in with stunt doubles. Now according to Chengdu Economic Daily, Takeshi Kaneshiro has finally arrived last night. Andy Lau will also come pretty soon. There are all kinds of speculations on whether Anita Mui will stay with the film or not. She has yet been involved in shooting of any scene.

Set Construction Started For Chen Kaige's WU JI / THE PROMISE (MonkeyPeaches Exclusive)

December 28, 2003

Beijing Times

Beijing Times reports set construction for Chen Kaige's upcoming historical epic Wu Ji (The Promise) has begun at Hengdian World Studios of Zhejiang Province in eastern China. In the middle of the square surrounded by palace compound and city gates, a new palace surrounded by a new wall is under construction. An arrow tower will be built with red bricks and the walls will be supported by thousands of bamboo poles. The set, including the square, was originally built for Chen Kaige's The Emperor And The Assassin and was later featured in many film and TV productions, including director Zhang Yimou's Hero. The old set will receive a complete facelift, including covering the palace columns with white stones and repainting much of the palace compound. Work will continue until March when the shooting is expected to start. Once everything is done, the temporary structure will be removed and the set will be restored to its original setting. Construction of another set has also begun in the southwest province Yunan. An all-star team, including stars Cecilia Cheung, Liu Ye, Jang Dong-Kun and Hiroyuki Sanada, Oscar winning cinematographer Peter Pau, action director Dion Lam from The Matrix sequels and Spider-Man 2, and Japanese manga artist Masago Kimiya (as the costume designer). The project is considered as Chen Kaige's response to Zhang Yimou's Hero, which has already earned well-over US$100 million dollar worldwide, and it may have also been influenced by The Lord Of The Rings.

Actor Ying Ruocheng Has Died At 74 (MonkeyPeaches Exclusive)

December 27, 2003

Chinese actor Ying Ruocheng has passed away this morning in Beijing. Internationally, he was best known as playing Kublai Khan in mini-series Marco Polo (1, 2), the prison governor in The Last Emperor and Lama Norbu in Little Buddha. However, much of his career was dedicated to the art on stage. Graduated from Tsinghua University with an English degree, Ying started his career in early 1950's and participated in productions of various plays in China. He also translated many Chinese plays into English as well as western plays into Chinese. In the 1980's, Ying served as a visiting professor of the UMKC (University of Missouri - Kansas City) Department of Theatre and directed two Chinese plays at the university. In the late 1980's, he was appointed as the Vice-Minister of Culture.

Full Trailer, Posters, Wallpaper And Stills From Michelle Yeoh's SILVER HAWK

(Han Entertainment / Mythical Films / Tianjin Film Studios / G-Film.com)

December 26, 2003

Full trailer (QuickTime / 22 MB):

Mandarin version

Cantonese version

Stills

More stills and wallpaper are available at the official site

XANDA Stills (G-Film.com)

December 25, 2003

16 stills of this Tsui Hark produced film is available here.

Cecilia Cheung And Hiroyuki Sanada Board Cheng Kaige's WU JI / THE PROMISE (MonkeyPeaches Exclusive)

December 24, 2003

Cecilia Cheung has been chosen by Chen Kaige as the female lead of Wu Ji (The Promise), a princess, according to Hong Kong paper Oriental Daily. Beijing Times reports Japanese actor Hiroyuki Sanada, played Ujio in The Last Samurai, has shown up at Beijing Film Studios to meet Chen Kaige. He will join Chinese actor Liu Ye and Korean actor Jang Dong-Kun to form the film's male cast. Written as an action drama set in the ancient China, Wu Ji (The Promise) is financed by an unidentified US studio with US$13 million.

Theme Song Music Video Of Tsui Hark's XANDA (Sina.com)

December 23, 2003

Xanda features a relatively new form of combat sport, sanda, based on Chinese martial-arts, and is played by three Chinese national champions of the sport. It was produced by Tsui Hark and directed by Marco Mak.

Theme song music video: (4:06 / Windows Media Video) Hi Lo

Spy Report From SHI MIAN MAI FU's Location At Youngchuan's Bamboo Forest (MonkeyPeaches Exclusive)

December 22, 2003

An anonymous reporter has successful infiltrated into the ground zero for three consecutive days. Here are what she saw:

Day one - several green uniformed cops did wire scenes;

Day two - Zhang Ziyi, dressed like a man, run on the same trail for over an hour, with the double of Andy Lau, fight took place on bamboo top while several members of the crew tossed bamboo leaves to the air, grasses of a hill were cut short, those cops flied again, and a night scene over a lake surrounded by fire;

Day three - ground was covered by a thick layer of bamboo leaves and action continued with stunt doubles.

HERO News 289 - Remastered, Remixed and Retransferred, HERO Extended DVD Comes Out Today, Supposedly (MonkeyPeaches Exclusive)

December 21, 2003

Guang Dong Face, one of two companies purchased the video distribution rights of Hero for the mainland China, has announced the DVD contains the extended edition of the film, around two hour long, was ready today. However, Face intends to make the DVD exclusively for buyers of a few specific brands of DVD players in China. Should the marketing strategy take off, people who are not interested in a second DVD player will have to wait another one or two months for the DVD to hit the shelf. DVD and VCD of the theatrical version of the film were released in February and the release of the extended version has been pushed back several times ever since. It turns out that the delay was not due to any interfering from that Hollywood studio, but rather due to the disc distributors' pursuit for better quality. The original films were sent to Australia for being re-mastered, re-mixed (for sound) and re-transferred (from film to DVD). The extended version is actually the original director's cut. Pressured by that Hollywood studio, director Zhang Yimou made a 98 minute cut, so far the only version has been and will be shown in movie theaters around the globe.

Filming Of SHI MIAN MAI FU Restarted At Youngchuan's Bamboo Forest (MonkeyPeaches Exclusive)

December 21, 2003

A reporter, disguised as a tourist, witnessed a piece of action at the bamboo forest, according to Chengdu Evening Post. The sequence is Zhang Ziyi's character being chased by a group of  policemen (at least three) with dark-green uniforms. Two hydraulic truck cranes were brought for wire stunt of two cops - that jumping from bamboo top to bamboo top stunt - hope it doesn't it look too similar to Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon. This pure action sequence, which was less than a minute, was completed by Zhang Ziyi's stunt double. Director Zhang Ziyi was not found and the action was directed by two assistant directors.

2046 Release Delays Until Cannes (MonkeyPeaches Exclusive)

December 20, 2003

According to Shenyang Today, the plan of releasing 2046 in Asia next month has to be scraped as the filming will wrap up by the end of this month. Wong Kar-Wai will try to make the film available for a world premiere at next year's Cannes Film Festival (May 12 - 23).

Update On Production Of SHI MIAN MAI FU (MonkeyPeaches Exclusive)

December 19, 2003

According to Chinese media, the entire cast and crew have left Beijing and arrived in Chongqing of southwest China yesterday. A Boeing 737-800 was chartered for carrying the army and cargos. Director Zhang Yimou and Zhang Ziyi were on the plane. Takeshi Kaneshiro and Andy Lau will arrive the location later. They will shoot some scenes at the Bamboo forest in Yongchuan near Chongqing City. Set built at the forest is now ready. There are contradictive reports on would Anita Mui come or not. Some report suggest she may quit or she has quit already. Zhang Yimou said the shooting is 80% complete and the film will be released in China and a few other Asian countries during the first half of 2004.

(Left) Zhang Yimou and Zhang Ziyi boarded the chartered plane.

Jet Li Is Up For LÉON 2? (pinephrinekitten)

December 18, 2003

Jet Li is pushing for taking title role in the sequel of Léon, known as The Professional in North America, and  Luc Besson, who brought us the original classic, will produce the sequel, which will be set in Hong Kong... according to a short article posted on Film Rotation. According to another much much older rumor, Hong Kong director Johnny To is Luc Besson's pick for the sequel. Everything sounds very interesting, as long as the project is not called Léon. Luc Besson produced two films for Jet Li, Kiss Of The Dragon and the upcoming Danny The Dog.

Click here for the original article

Thanks to Mark Singh

Teaser Of Jackie Chan's NEW POLICE STORY Now Online (Various)

December 17, 2003

Even though, according to some report, the biggest scenes have yet filmed, a teaser has been released:

From the official site

From EMG 

Try this one (Asianfilmweb.de) if you want a download.

Thanks to Marie M and Jost

More Candidates For Chen Kaige's THE PROMISE / WU JI (MonkeyPeaches Exclusive)

December 17, 2003

According to Beijing Times, Hong Kong actress Maggie Cheung and Cecilia Cheung as well as Japanese actress Koyuki (The Last Samurai) and Takako Tokiwa are in talk to star in The Promise (Wu Ji). Chinese actor Liu Ye  and Korean actor Jang Dong-Kun are basically in, but Hong Kong singer / actor Nicholas Tse is out due to scheduling problem. Other runners-up include Hiroyuki Sanada (The Last Samurai), Yuji Oda and Tadanobu Asano. According to the paper, departs of camera, prost-production, special effects and art have been formed in Beijing. French effect house BUF is bidding for the CG contract. Production may start in as early as March.

Related Story:

More Update On Chen Kaige's New Historical Epic - THE PROMISE (Various) December 12, 2003

Update On Chen Kaige's New Historical Epic - THE PROMISES (Various)

November 27, 2003

Chen Kaige Plans New Action, His First Martial-Art Piece?

(MonkeyPeaches Exclusive) November 14, 2003

Jackie Chan Does More Rooftop Stunt For NEW POLICE STORY (Oriental Daily)

December 16, 2003

Oriental Daily, HKCEC

Yesterday, Jackie Chan somehow ended up on the rooftop of Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre. The filming was interrupted the the police and everyone was evacuated because the Israeli president was coming. The work resumed a hour later.

(left) Jackie Chan on the rooftop.

(right) A bird view of the building.

Jet Li's First Time With Ice Cream In DANNY THE DOG (Comme Au Cinema)

November 15, 2003

Click here for the clip

Thanks to "Nick"

Anita Mui Will Not Quit SHI MIAN MAI FU, Says Producer Zhang Weiping (MonkeyPeaches Exclusive)

December 15, 2003

Sina.com

According to Beijing based paper Youth Times, producer Zhang Weiping has dismissed the rumor suggesting that Anita Mui gives up her role in Shi Mian Mai Fu. According to unidentified source, Anita Mui has quitted due to her health, the cold weather, and or the pay. Also according to Youth Times, the indoor filming at Beijing Film Studios has temporarily wrapped up. Zhang Ziyi, Takeshi Kaneshiro, Andy Lau and the rest of the team will travel to their next location, the bamboo forest in Yongchuan. Then return to Beijing and do scenes with Anita Mui.

See Jackie Chan Does Stunts For NEW POLICE STORY (Oriental Daily)

December 14, 2003

Oriental Daily

Shooting of New Police Story continues in Hong Kong. According to Hong Kong paper Oriental Daily, three used double-decked buses were purchased for the filming. Jackie Chan did incredible stunts in the original Police Story and its first sequel.

December 13, 2003

A Statement On Behalf Of MiramAxe (MonkeyPeaches Exclusive)

December 13, 2003

MiramAxe, as a mega-size-rat-owned enterprise, is hereby taking away your rights of trading, importing, exporting, shipping, storing, distributing, wholesaling, retailing, purchasing, selling, collecting, receiving, viewing, watching, seeing, displaying, lending, borrowing, exchanging, recommending, discussing, criticizing, praising, mentioning, talking, saying, expecting, thinking and dreaming of any videos, in DVD, VHS, VCD, and any other format, of all non-US originated motion pictures MiramAxe has claimed to have the sole legal rights to in The United States of America, Canada, and all countries have been liberated by and legally occupied by MiramAxe without permission of the the movie fans of these countries. Any individual who fails to hand over his or her rights would consecutively be imprisoned at the Guantanamo Bay Camp with all dignities as a enthusiastic foreign film fan being taken away. Individuals who have successfully handed over their rights will be rewarded with viewing the foreign films you have been dying to see, in the version, edited, shortened, modified, dubbed, re-soundtracked and by any other mean necessary for a profit, by MiramAxe.

The above statement is bogus, but the issue is not.

Links:

"An Open Letter to Miramax" by Kung Fu Cult Cinema

Appeal to Disney for Respectful Treatment of Asian films

Appeal to the Academy Awards for Fair Treatment of Foreign Films

More Update On Chen Kaige's New Historical Epic - THE PROMISE (Various)

December 12, 2003

According to Beijing Times, director Chen Kaige has cast Chinese actor Liu Ye , Hong Kong singer / actor Nicholas Tse and Korean actor Jang Dong-Kun for his upcoming historical epic The Promise (Chinese Title: Wu Ji / Infinity). Another role will land on Hiroyuki Sanada (The Last Samurai), Yuji Oda and Tadanobu Asano. Also, Oscar winner Peter Pau will be the cameraman.

Related Story:

Update On Chen Kaige's New Historical Epic - THE PROMISES (Various)

November 27, 2003

Chen Kaige Plans New Action, His First Martial-Art Piece?

(MonkeyPeaches Exclusive) November 14, 2003

NEW POLICE STORY Trailer Coming Tomorrow (MonkeyPeaches Exclusive)

December 11, 2003

According to Hong Kong paper Oriental Daily, a trailer, probably a teaser, of Jackie Chan's The Police Story will be shown at "100 theaters worldwide."

(Left) Jackie Chan and co-star Yeung Choi-Nei (Charlie).

Taiwanese Actor Ko Shou-Liang Passed Away (MonkeyPeaches Exclusive)

December 10, 2003

Taiwanese actor and daredevil driver Ko Shou-Liang has passed away yesterday in Shanghai, at the age of 51. According to Shanghai Police, he died after an asthma attack triggered by alcohol overdose . Ko Shou-Liang started his film career as a stunt driver in 1982. During the following two decades, he performed various car stunts on and off-screen. Ko has also starred in several movies and TV series. In 1988, he directed his first feature film and established his own production company four years later.  In 1992, he became the first person to fly over the Great Wall of China with a motorcycle. Five years later, he made another world record as the first person to fly over the Yellow River with a car.

Story Of Michelle Yeoh's HUA MU LAN Is Too Long? (MonkeyPeaches Exclusive)

December 9, 2003

According to Beijing based Youth Times, Michelle Yeoh's Hua Mu Lan has run into a problem - the script is too long and she can't decide which parts to delete. Michelle Yeoh told Nanfang Daily the filming would last more than five months and it would not happen until... no one knows.

INFERNAL AFFAIRS III Premièred In Beijing (MonkeyPeaches Exclusive)

December 8, 2003

Infernal Affairs III just had its Asian premiere at Beijing's The Great Hall of People, the Chinese parliament building, today. According to Chinese media, two directors are talking about a possible 4 hour special edition of the trilogy with deleted scenes to be shown at theaters next year.

Video of the news conference prior to the première: (Windows Media) Hi Lo

Full coverage by Sina.com (Chinese)

First Shot With Zhang Ziyi And Takeshi Kaneshiro In SHI MIAN MAI FU, Now Known As LOVERS (Yomiuri ?)

December 7, 2003

This photo was posted on several Japanese newspapers three days ago. It was taken during the filming near Ukraine town Lviv. Both Zhang Ziyi And Takeshi Kaneshiro appeared to be wearing police uniforms. Unlike those spy photos taken on the set in Beijing, (here, here, here and here), this one may very likely be released by the film's Japanese distributor. According to these papers, the film's English title is Lovers (sounds a lot better than "House Of Flying Daggers" claimed by IMDB). It will be released in China during the summer, and the Japanese release is planned.

According to one of the newspapers, Yomiuri, the plot of the film is:

In Tang Dynasty (618 - 907) (note: the costume and architectural style are indeed from that period), policeman Takeshi Kaneshiro and his colleague Andy Lau are after blind entertainer Zhang Ziyi, a member of the House of Flying Daggers and is wanted by the authority. She is cornered by Lau and sent to jail. Right before her execution, she is saved by Kaneshiro. While running as fugitives, they are deeply in love. However, Lau follows them closely behind with his own agenda on Zhang...

There is a hidden plot which is too spoiling even for spoilers and I have decided to save it for later reports.

(Spoilers End!)

Review: WARRIORS OF HEAVEN AND EARTH (The Hollywood Reporter)

December 7, 2003

"A creation of director He Ping, this big-sky epic, set in the wild, wild east of the Gobi Desert, derives as much of its visual and narrative power from John Ford and Don Siegel as it does from wuxia dramas and silk road classics."

by Andrew Sun

The Hollywood Reporter

Warriors Of Heaven And Earth was named Chinese Film of the Year at MTV Style Awards China 2003 in Shanghai on December 1. From the same event, Michelle Yeoh took home Actress of the Year Award and singer CoCo Lee was honored as Breakthrough International Artist of the Year.

Click here for more.

Shi Mian Mai Fu Will Be Done In "Half Year" - According To Producer Bill Kong (MonkeyPeaches Exclusive)

December 6, 2003

Producer Bill (William) Kong told Hong Kong's Oriental Daily that the production would continue till the end of January and post-production would wrap up in the summer. The entire process will only need "half year". This would make it possible for the film to be released during the summer season. Kong also said Anita Mui is good very good shape and shooting of her scenes will go as planned. Both Shi Mian Mai Fu and Hero are produced by Bill Kong's Hong Kong based Edko Films and Beijing New Picture Film.

Jackie Chan's 80 DAYS Made A Few Shots Of The Real Great Wall (MonkeyPeaches Exclusive)

December 5, 2003

Jackie Chan's co-start Steve Coogan told Britain's Channel 4's website that he was "the first person ever to be filmed walking along the Great Wall of China." $^%*@#!!!!!!... Most likely, just in that specific section of The Great Wall. Unfortunately, Steve Coogan's character (Phileas Fogg) somehow got separated with Jackie Chan's character (Passepartout), because, according to Hong Kong's The Sun, Jackie Chan was not involved in the filming of the sequence.

Related Story: Great Wall movie first for Coogan (Ananova) December 2, 2003

Even More INFERNAL AFFAIRS III Posters (Media Asia / Sina.com)

December 4, 2003

Media Asia / G-Film

These posters are exclusively for the mainland China.

The official English website has been launched: click here

Tsui Hak Gets Ready For QI JIAN XIA TIAN SHAN (MonkeyPeaches Exclusive)

December 4, 2003

Tsui Hark is set to direct his first martial-art film in three years - Qi Jian Xia Tian Shan (literal: Seven Swordsmen Leave Mountain Of Heaven), according to Hangzhou Daily. The project is originally tailored as a TV series, and now CFLACP, the production company, will push it to the big screen. Andy Lau is currently in talk to star and shooting has been scheduled to start in June. Learned a big lesson from the failure of The Legend Of Zu and Black Mask 2, Tsui Hark has said he would show us some real fight and reduce the usage of CG effects to the minimum. The TV series with a different director will soon follow. Liu Ye and Wu Jing have been cast for TV version. Qi Jian Xia Tian Shan is a wuxia novel by Liang Yusheng.

INFERNAL AFFAIRS III Videos Downloadable (Media Asia / Sina.com)

December 3, 2003

Clips: Hi Lo

Trailer: Hi Lo

Commentary by directors and screenwriters: Hi Lo

Commentary by Actors: Hi Lo

Production Of SHI MIAN MAI FU Continues (MonkeyPeaches Exclusive)

December 3, 2003

According to Hangzhou Daily, Zhang Ziyi has returns to the set of Shi Mian Mai Fu and the seriousness of the injury she suffered has been played down by the production company. BigStar, the weekly magazine has apologized for publishing those spy photos (here, here, here and here) and the production studio, Beijing New Picture, has agreed not pursuing any legal action against the magazine. According to Shenyang Today, director Zhang Yimou has been nominated for the president of The Filmmakers' Association of China, along with Ding Yinnan and Wu Yigong.

SHI MIAN MAI FU May Come Out In Summer (MonkeyPeaches Exclusive)

December 2, 2003

Producer Zhang Weiping told Beijing Times that he intended to release the film in China during the summer season and he would discuss the plan with the film's overseas distributor (definitely not MiramAxe!). The original plan is to release it next December but the those spy photos (here, here, here and here) have shown too muck of the film to the public. The production company, Beijing New Picture, now threatens to sue the ones released those photos. According to Zhang Weiping, Zhang Ziyi injured her left arm on the set at Beijing Film Studios. She was rushed to the hospital and sent back to her home shortly after (Sorry, can't tell you where she lives).

More INFERNAL AFFAIRS III Posters (Media Asia / G-Film)

December 1, 2003

Media Asia / G-Film

The third and the final chapter of the series, a prequel and a sequel of the first Infernal Affairs, will be released in Hong Kong and the rest of China this month.

The Chinese title is Wu Jian Dao (Cantonese pronunciation: Mo Gan Doh). According to Buddhist believe, the deepest and the most horrific level of the hell is Wu Jian, meaning "none stop". There is no time in Wu Jian and whoever in Wu Jian is tortured without stopping. "Dao" means "road", or "way". Therefore Wu Jian Dao means "the road to Wu Jian" or "the way of Wu Jian".

Official site

Related link:

INFERNAL AFFAIRS III Posters (Information Times) November 16, 2003